GOODREADINGMAGAZINE.COM.AU
GOOD READING NOVEMBER 2016
16
You once harboured an ambition to be an
astronaut and now you’re a sci-fi writer –
what draws you to stories amid the stars?
As long as I can remember, I’ve been a fan
of science fiction. I just love the idea of so
many possibilities ahead for humanity. Fantasy
stories are great, but I’ve always experienced
them with a tinge of sadness, knowing they are
simply not possible. Magic does not, and never
will, exist.
Sci-fi like Star Trek, on the other hand, is in
the realm of distant possibility. I know it’s so far
from our current reality that it might as well be
a story about magic, but just knowing that it’s
rooted in science gives me a smidgen of hope
that maybe that’s what our future will be like
some day.
Tell us about the haunted graveyard in
Scotland that inspired you to write.
It’s called Greyfriars Kirk – a notorious
cemetery where so many hideous things
throughout history had taken place. People
had been tortured or buried alive there.
Bodysnatchers prowled the area. There
was so much about it that inspired my
imagination when I briefly visited Edinburgh
as a 19-year-old. I returned to Edinburgh
for a junior year abroad and was placed in a
dormitory just across from that same cemetery.
That was the year when I had this amazing
social exper ience all about me, yet for some
reason I kept holing up in my dormitory,
writing. I blame the cemetery.
What is a Diabolic and how would you
recognise one in a crowd?
A Diabolic is a genetically engineered
superhuman, stronger, faster and deadlier than
any normal person. This story centers around
Nemesis, a Diabolic who has been whittled
down to disguise herself as the girl she was
created to protect. In her case, you would only
know she was a Diabolic if you knew what to
look for. There is a term often used to describe
creatures that hunt prey – the ‘predator’s stare’.
It’s the one betraying characteristic of any
Diabolic. There is simply something about the
way they can look at you that sends a chill
down your spine.
The Diabolic is a tale from centuries in the
future, but its society resembles that of
a medieval royal court. Did you channel
historical stories while writing it?
The main inspiration for The Diabolic was
I, Claudius, so I really did mean this to essentially
be Imperial Rome in
space. I’ve also been
enamoured of Tudor
English history, so
both the Tudor court
and the Imperial
Roman court
informed my view of
this royal court.
The Diabolic
by S J Kincaid is
published by Simon &
Schuster rrp $19.99.
In sci-fi writer
S J KINCAID’s new
standalone galactic
thriller, The Diabolic,
a deeply religious
society is scattered
across the cosmos.
When Sidonia’s wealthy family comes
under threat from the Empire due
to the outspoken comments of her
sacrilegious father, she’s bonded to a
Diabolic, a humanoid programmed to
kill anyone who dares to touch her.
published by Simon &
made to kill
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